Lily Plourde | Campo Alegria Volunteer - Jan 2010

It's a loong flight to Managua, Nicaragua (well, that is if your coming from anywhere north of Texas...). But the anticipation alone for what awaited me there was well worth the usual airport frustrations that accompany any long trip. Luckily I love to travel so any setback is just a new adventure. My first adventure started when I stupidly left my purse (with passport, cash, credit cards, cell phone, ipod...)in a Nicaraguan gas station bathroom, only to realize my mistake 20 minutes into our drive towards camp. Peter said a prayer and we returned only to find it was gone and assumed it had been stolen. To everyones amazement, we received a call shortly after, that a woman had all of my belongings and only kept them for fear that they may have been stolen by someone else. She and her sister then travelled about 4 hours to return everything to me. If this story isn't a testament to just how good God is, then it was certainly an eye opening realization that the Nicaraguan people aren't as bad, I admit, as I expected they would be. As the 2nd poorest country on this side of the earth, unfortunately, they get a bad rep. This was just the beginning of my week-long learning experience.

At camp, we had a small group of about 11 girls and 2 boys who all live together in a home (well, girls in one home, boys in another) safely outside of the dump but had been rescued from sexually abusive or potentially sexually abusive homes from within the dump. I swear, if you had taken any of those little girls and plopped them in the middle of the U.S. you would never know how dark and sad their pasts may have been. These kids were the happiest, most playful, FUN, helpful and incredibly lovable group of kids I have ever met. I have to admit, I don't spend very much time around kids and was a little worried at how I may handle so many little girls at once...but I can honestly say that it was love at first sight. When the kids were dropped off at camp, we greeted them in the dining hall and with no hesitation I was greeted with great big hugs from kids who had no clue who I was. I couldn't believe it and I was instantly crazy about them. The rest of the week was filled with swimming, crafts, baseball games, story telling, singing, playing, laughing and just plain fun. On my last day, I cried like a baby when I had to leave them...and I miss them terribly now. I was only there for a week but the impact these kids made on my heart will be endless. Losing my purse at the beginning of my trip was a pretty incredible story to tell, but learning from these kids as they truly enjoy and seem to value all the good they have in their lives was by far the most amazing part of my experience at camp and has made me reevaluate the many of the ways in which I live as a spoiled American.